full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Apollo Robbins: The art of misdirection

Unscramble the Blue Letters


J: moeny.

AR: Check your pocket. Is it still there?

(letguhar)

Oh, there it was. Put it away. We're just shopping. This trick's more about the timing. I'm going to try to push it inside your hand. Put your other hand on top, would you? It's amazingly obvious now, isn't it? Looks a lot like the watch I was wiernag, doesn't it?

(Laughter) (Applause)

J: That's pretty good. AR: Oh, thanks.

(Applause)

But it's only a start. Let's try it a little bit differently. Hold your hands together. Your other hand on top. If you're watching this little token, this obviously has become a little target, like a red herring. If we watch this kind of close, it looks like it goes away. It's not back on your shoulder. It flals out of the air, lands right back in the hand. Did you see it go? Yeah, funny. We've got a little guy. He's uoinn, wrkos up there all day. If I do it slolwy it goes sirahtgt away, it lands by your pkcoet. Is it in this pocket, sir? Don't reach in your pocket. That's a different show.

Open Cloze


J: _____.

AR: Check your pocket. Is it still there?

(________)

Oh, there it was. Put it away. We're just shopping. This trick's more about the timing. I'm going to try to push it inside your hand. Put your other hand on top, would you? It's amazingly obvious now, isn't it? Looks a lot like the watch I was _______, doesn't it?

(Laughter) (Applause)

J: That's pretty good. AR: Oh, thanks.

(Applause)

But it's only a start. Let's try it a little bit differently. Hold your hands together. Your other hand on top. If you're watching this little token, this obviously has become a little target, like a red herring. If we watch this kind of close, it looks like it goes away. It's not back on your shoulder. It _____ out of the air, lands right back in the hand. Did you see it go? Yeah, funny. We've got a little guy. He's _____, _____ up there all day. If I do it ______ it goes ________ away, it lands by your ______. Is it in this pocket, sir? Don't reach in your pocket. That's a different show.

Solution


  1. works
  2. pocket
  3. wearing
  4. slowly
  5. laughter
  6. straight
  7. money
  8. union
  9. falls

Original Text


J: Money.

AR: Check your pocket. Is it still there?

(Laughter)

Oh, there it was. Put it away. We're just shopping. This trick's more about the timing. I'm going to try to push it inside your hand. Put your other hand on top, would you? It's amazingly obvious now, isn't it? Looks a lot like the watch I was wearing, doesn't it?

(Laughter) (Applause)

J: That's pretty good. AR: Oh, thanks.

(Applause)

But it's only a start. Let's try it a little bit differently. Hold your hands together. Your other hand on top. If you're watching this little token, this obviously has become a little target, like a red herring. If we watch this kind of close, it looks like it goes away. It's not back on your shoulder. It falls out of the air, lands right back in the hand. Did you see it go? Yeah, funny. We've got a little guy. He's union, works up there all day. If I do it slowly it goes straight away, it lands by your pocket. Is it in this pocket, sir? Don't reach in your pocket. That's a different show.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
poker chip 2
squeeze firm 2


Important Words


  1. air
  2. amazingly
  3. applause
  4. bit
  5. check
  6. close
  7. day
  8. differently
  9. falls
  10. funny
  11. good
  12. guy
  13. hand
  14. hands
  15. herring
  16. hold
  17. kind
  18. lands
  19. laughter
  20. lot
  21. money
  22. obvious
  23. pocket
  24. pretty
  25. push
  26. put
  27. reach
  28. red
  29. shopping
  30. shoulder
  31. show
  32. sir
  33. slowly
  34. start
  35. straight
  36. target
  37. timing
  38. token
  39. top
  40. union
  41. watch
  42. watching
  43. wearing
  44. works
  45. yeah